Georgia’s Attorney General Goes Before SCOTUS

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens will be representing the great state of Georgia before the Supreme Court of the United States. He’ll be one of the 25 state attorneys general (in addition to other interested parties) who will be delivering oral arguments before the nine justices against Obamacare. From Attorney General Olens:

I am pleased to represent Georgia on Monday as the entire nation watches this historic healthcare reform suit reach the highest court of our country. I, along with 25 other attorneys general, the National Federation of Independent Business and four individual plaintiffs will begin oral arguments to defend Americans’ individual liberty before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has allotted an unprecedented six hours of time for oral argument, which will conclude on Wednesday, March 28. Paul Clement, former U.S. Solicitor General, will argue on behalf of the states. I have the honor of being only one of six attorneys general present for Monday’s argument.

This case raises the most consequential Constitutional question of our lifetime: whether or not the Congress has the power to force individuals to purchase a product. The Constitution clearly places limits on the authority of the federal government, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act flagrantly exceeds that authority.

Today [March 23rd] marks the second anniversary of President Obama signing the healthcare bill into law. This case will determine if the federalist system, as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, remains intact or if there is no limit to the power of the federal government to regulate personal decisions of citizens, such as healthcare.

There were 90 minutes worth of oral arguments on the Anti-Injunction Act this morning, tomorrow will be 2-hours worth of arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate of Obamacare, and Wednesday will have 2 argument segments: 1.) 90-minutes worth on the “severability” (e.g., what parts of Obamacare be able to survive on their own if the individual mandate is invalidated) and 2.) 1-hour worth on whether or not Congress has the authority to force States to expand their Medicaid programs by threatening to withhold federal funds.

The Supreme Court will be making a decision at the end of June. For more updates on the case, you can point your browser to Healthcarelawsuit.us

::UPDATE::

AG Olens sent out this update tonight recapping the first day of arguments:

I was honored to be present today as the U.S. Supreme Court heard the first of three days of oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act.

The topic of today’s argument was the federal Anti-Injunction Act and whether or not it prohibits the plaintiffs from bringing a challenge to the individual mandate at this time. Georgia, the fellow plaintiff states, and the National Federation of Independent Business contend that the individual mandate issue may be resolved now without having to await the assessment of penalties under the Act.

We do not need not wait until 2014 when the penalties mandated by the President’s federal healthcare plan begin to take effect. The issues at stake are too significant to delay a decision from our Nation’s highest Court.